Thursday, April 30, 2015

Welcome to the sixth edition of the South Side Chicago ARA zine. Every year we put together a collection of our updates on local antifascist work and intelligence, as well as a few relevant articles and updates from other sources.

Usually this blog post would contain the introduction from the annual zine being featured however, this time around we used the "Half decade of South Side ARA" article written a few months back as the intro. Click the link at the top of the page to check it out. We hope you enjoy!

Sunday, April 26, 2015

On Saturday, April 25th, the Aryan Nations and other white supremacists gathered on the steps of the old courthouse in St.Louis, MO to call for the release of Gary Yarbrough. Yarbrough was a member of the Order who was sentenced to 60 years in prison in 1986 for racketeering and weapons charges. Not only was Gary's wife Susan in attendance but there were also some white supremacists out of Illinois. There were some newer names such as Kris Evans (Lincoln, IL) and Mari Cassidy (East Peoria), as well as some some familiar faces like Jeffrey Stuart AKA "Thomas Stuart" , Art Jones, and our favorite national anarchist karate master, Brandon Lashbrook, of the failed 2014 White Man March.

ST. LOUIS (KMOX) – It was whites rallying against whites on the topic of racism and race relations.

The Aryan Nation World Headquarters reserved a spot on the steps of the old courthouse in St. Louis on Saturday, to call for the release of Idaho man Gary Yarbrough from prison after thirty years. St. Louis was one of several rally locations picked in the U.S. and two other countries

“Gary Yarbrough matters. The white race matters,” the leader of the group shouted back to those on the sidewalk shouting “Black Lives Matter.” Several of the speaker’s followers yelled mentions of the Michael Brown incident in Ferguson.

Anti-Racist Collective member Emily Bland knew about the planned rally and got a group of about 75 to stage a counter-demonstration, “Racist hate speech is really just the tip of the iceberg. It goes a lot deeper. As white people, it is our duty to stand up for what’s right and to educate other white folks on how racism affects people of color, and to affirm that black lives matter.”

Originally planning to stand silent in the face of the demonstrators on the courthouse steps, Bland grabbed her megaphone and said to them, “Racism steals your humanity just as much as it steals the humanity of black and brown folks.”

Bland’s group had occupied the courthouse steps for about an hour prior to the Aryan Nation group’s arrival.

As a steady rain fell, metal barricades kept the two groups apart and dozens of police were on standby in the area.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Mark Wachtler, also known as Mark Watson, is a 45 year old white nationalist living in Chicago. Mark is the founder and editor of the "Opposition New Network", which serves as the headquarters for his three publications; Opposition News, Illinois Herald, and whiteoutpress.com.

Initially, the Whiteout Press site does not appear to be a white nationalist website. Whiteout Press tries to maintain an image of neutrality in order to appeal to a larger audience but after reading close it becomes quite clear where their politics lie. In 2014, Whiteout Press reposted the call out for the "white man march", writing their own preface which stated;

"Readers may disagree with the notion that white people are being discriminated against here in America and around the world. But they can’t rightfully disagree with the fact that the United States really does have race-based laws and programs that specifically discriminate against white people."

"Whiteout Press readers of all races will plug their ears and run away in disgust at the notion that white people are victims of racism. After all, all white people are rich, racist and evil, right? Heck, blacks and Hispanics are biologically incapable of being racist – it’s physically impossible. And believe it or not, all of the above is actually the law of the land."

"That used to be considered a crazy question only asked by bigots, anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists. However, one celebrity after another has fallen victim for simply admitting that the long-held notion is actually true."

They then reposted information from "National Vanguard Books", a magazine directly linked to the well known neo-nazi group the National Alliance.

Whiteout Press isn't the only one of these three publications with white supremacist leanings. Opposition News posted an article in favor of the AFP stating;

"One is a passionately pro-white organization (AFP) while the other is as hate-filled as the hate groups they write about (SPLC) and profit from. And like the issue of religion, most Americans believe race doesn’t belong in politics and elections. But since every other race-based special interest group has carved out its own racially exclusive land claim along the US political landscape, it’s blatantly hypocritical to condemn a political party for being the first in modern times to publicly stand up for the rights of whites."

White supremacy is nothing new for Mark, in his autobiography titled Romantic Violence in R World", he admitted to once being part of a white supremacist street gang in Chicago in the 1980's. If anyone has any more information on Mark Wachtler, or anyone else involved with these news outlets, contact us at southsidechicagoara@hushmail.com.

About

Contact: southsideara (at) riseup.net

TORCH Points of Unity:

1. We disrupt fascist and far right organizing and activity.

2. We don’t rely on the cops or courts to do our work for us. This
doesn’t mean we never go to court, but the cops uphold white supremacy
and the status quo. They attack us and everyone who resists oppression.
We must rely on ourselves to protect ourselves and stop the fascists.

3. We oppose all forms of oppression and exploitation. We intend to do
the hard work necessary to build a broad, strong movement of oppressed
people centered on the working class against racism, sexism, nativism,
anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and discrimination
against the disabled, the oldest, the youngest, and the most oppressed
people. We support abortion rights and reproductive freedom. We want a
classless, free society. We intend to win!

4. We hold ourselves accountable personally and collectively to live up to our ideals and values.

5. We not only support each other within the network, but we also
support people outside the network who we believe have similar aims or
principles. An attack against one is an attack against all.